Vacuum cleaners for cleaning carpets and shop-type vacuum cleaners for disposing of sawdust and other industrial waste have been available for years. However, these devices are designed generally to clean large areas of space and are not particularly well-suited for cleaning small, cluttered, and partially-enclosed areas.
Tank vacuum cleaners often come with attachments for cleaning hard-to reach spaces, such as cracks and crevices. Again, however, if the area to be cleaned is quite dirty and cluttered with immovable objects, coaxing dirt from the area using a conventional vacuum cleaner is a difficult proposition.
Of particular concern in virtually all U.S. households is the dirt which accumulates around the condenser coils and motors of refrigerators, freezers, air-conditioners, and the like. Virtually every U.S. household has at least one refrigerator whose exposed condenser coils and motor will, over time, collect a truly vast amount of dirt and lint. Not only is the dirt unsightly and potentially unhealthy (especially for allergy sufferers), it also reduces the efficiency of the refrigerator or freezer because the heat-transfer capacity of the condenser coils is reduced due to the presence of the dirt. Consequently, by removing the dirt, not only is the house made more cleanly, the refrigerator or other device is restored to maximum efficiency.
However, as alluded to above, the underside of most refrigerators, freezers,and similar devices, are notoriously cluttered. Gaining access to such a restricted space with conventional vacuum cleaners is impossible. Owing to the large size of such devices, they cannot easily be tipped onto their sides and the underside then thoroughly cleaned. Consequently, there is a long-felt need for a device which will allow the underside of a refrigerator, freezer, or any large workpiece to be vacuum cleaned simply, easily, and without spreading dirt around the home or workplace. The present invention is such a device.
A number of vacuum assemblies for cleaning work areas, textile machines, and the like, are described in the prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,515,698 and 4,333,201 describe vacuum devices for cleaning bobbin creels or other textile machinery which tend to accumulate fabric dust. U.S. Pat. No. 5,941,766 to Iverson describes a cone-like dust collector to be used in conjunction with a grinding machine to collect the shavings. U.S. Pat. No. 5,276,938 describes a workstation which uses an integrated vacuum system to recover liquid freon before it vaporizes. U.S. Pat. No. 5,768,740 describes a vacuum apparatus for removing debris from a work site.
None of the devices described in the above-noted patents anticipate or render obvious the invention described and claimed herein.